165616 20260112132217.0 doi 10.1016/j.enbuild.2025.116938 sideral 147302 ART-2026-147302 eng Monzón-Chavarrías, Marta Universidad de Zaragoza (orcid)0000-0002-1672-4965 Environmental impacts of standard building renovations: City-level extrapolation from a real case study in Spain 2026 The renovation of multi-family buildings aimed at reducing operational energy consumption and improving housing health and safety is a common practice across Europe. However, in response to climate change, the European Union has established ambitious targets for 2050, which require not only reductions in operational energy use but also a significant decrease in embodied energy and CO2 emissions associated with building renovations. This study presents a comprehensive analysis of a social housing building in Zaragoza, Spain, which underwent renovation aimed at reducing energy consumption, enhancing indoor environmental quality to improve residents’ living conditions. A detailed inventory of materials and construction processes was compiled, and both the embodied energy and CO2 emissions associated with the renovation phase were calculated and compared before and after the intervention, including an estimation of payback times. Additionally, the study extends the analysis to the urban scale by selecting buildings with similar characteristics and creating a digital twin using programming tools, in order to assess environmental impacts and payback periods across a broader context. The results highlight that the renovation works aimed at reducing operational energy—such as façade and roof insulation, window replacement, and system upgrades—account for less than 50% (47.5%) of the total embodied energy of the renovation. In terms of Global Warming Potential, however, this share increases to 74.9%. Regarding payback periods, the non-renewable Energy Payback Time is 1.35 years at the building scale and 1.12 years at the city scale. For CO2 emissions, the payback time is 1.62 years at the building scale and 1.35 years at the city scale. These results demonstrate that the renovation—implemented with conventional materials—achieved significant reductions in energy use and emissions. Even greater benefits could be achieved by incorporating materials aligned with circular economy principles. These interventions should also be leveraged to enhance the quality of life of residents by adopting new approaches to adaptability and the reorganization of interior spaces, thereby pursuing optimal functional renewal. Access copy available to the general public Unrestricted info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/AEI/PID2023-151255OB-I00 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess by-nc https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/deed.es info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion Sierra-Pérez, Jorge Universidad de Zaragoza (orcid)0000-0002-7660-3508 García-Pérez, Sergio Universidad de Zaragoza (orcid)0000-0002-0492-3625 Guillén-Lambea, Silvia Universidad de Zaragoza (orcid)0000-0003-3269-023X 5015 110 Universidad de Zaragoza Dpto. Arquitectura Área Construc. Arquitectónicas 5002 305 Universidad de Zaragoza Dpto. Ingeniería Diseño Fabri. Área Expresión Gráfica en Ing. 5015 815 Universidad de Zaragoza Dpto. Arquitectura Área Urbanística y Ord.Territ. 5004 590 Universidad de Zaragoza Dpto. Ingeniería Mecánica Área Máquinas y Motores Térmi. 354 (2026), 116938 [16 pp.] Energy build. Energy and Buildings 0378-7788 7320607 http://zaguan.unizar.es/record/165616/files/texto_completo.pdf Versión publicada 2225325 http://zaguan.unizar.es/record/165616/files/texto_completo.jpg?subformat=icon icon Versión publicada oai:zaguan.unizar.es:165616 articulos driver 2026-01-12-11:11:16 ARTICLE